December 21st
by LegionInfinity
Summary: December 21st. The fabled "End of the World." We've all joked about it. But what if it wasn't a joke? A new evil has arrived in Ninjago, one that threatens the very existence of it's people. Now it's up to a certain fire ninja to protect Ninjago. Can he complete the four challanges in time? Or will life as he knows it cease to exsist? Rated T for mild language.
1. Chapter 1

I used to laugh every time someone told me the world was gonna end on December 21st, 2012. I used to make jokes about it, but that was before Sensei told me the truth. If I can't solve the four tasks before the twelfth chime of the Ninjago City Clock, everything I know, will vanish.

We used to be able to joke, but know we know, if we can't stop this, the world as we know it will vanish. There's a new evil rising, a new evil that threatened our very existence. All I know is, I have to go in alone. No one can help me.

Not Sensei.

Not Cole.

Not Jay.

Not Zane.

Not Nya.

Not Lloyd.

I'm on my own now, all I have is my sword and the clothes on my back. The invasion has begun. Already, his soldiers are terrorizing my people. My friends. Soon, he will have them all in the palm of his hand. That is, if I can't stop him in time. I may not know this place anymore, but I do know one thing.

My name is Kai, and I am the world's last hope.


	2. Chapter 2

The wind felt sticky and warm on my skin and made the air smell sour. It was making me feel like Aryan must feel when she's toe-to-toe with Volcano, like she's playing a game she's destined to lose. I cannot win this battle. I know almost nothing about this new villain other than the fact he calls himself "Armageddon." He's a monster. Earlier, a refugee delivered a message to me. He has them, he has them all. There's no one to back me up now, I'm truly all alone...and I'm afraid. Everyone is counting on me, it is almost eight o'clock. Time for me to begin the first challenge.

I arrive in Town Center at exactly eight. The moment I stepped for into the are, large, 40 foot-tall mirrors surround me on all sides. When the mirrors finally stop moving, I realize I'm in what appears to be a maze. Tentatively, I take the first step, and that's when I hear it.

"Kai!", a feminine voice shout out from somewhere to my right. I spin around so quickly, I lose my vision for a moment, but I don't care.

"Nya!", I shout, running towards her voice, "Nya where are you!"She's in pain. I can hear it in her voice. I run until I reach a fork in the road. I strain to hear her voice, but it's gone. I slump against the walls, now how will I save my sister?

"Kai!"

I stand up immediately.

"Cole! Cole where are you?", I shout.

"Kai! Help us!"

This time it's Jay's voice and it's coming from the right. I run, faster than I've ever run before in my life. I have to reach them, they're in agony!

"Kai!"

"Zane!", I shout, "Zane!"

"Follow our voices, Kai! Please help us!"

I freeze. No. No. It can't be.

He has Aryan too.

**Hey everyone! It's Legion! Thanks for all the great reviews everyone! **

**Aryan: Yea! Thanks everyone!**

**Zane: Hey Aryan! Is that mistletoe over the door I see?**

**Aryan: I don't know...is it? * mischievous wink ***

**Legion: Ug! You know what you can get me for Christmas?**

**Zane and Aryan: What?**

**Legion: A ROOM FOR YOU TWO!**

**Aryan: Your just jealous.**

**Zane: We could try to find you someone.**

**Legion: GET OUTTA HERE! BOTH OF YOU!**

**Sorry about that everyone. Merry Christmas! I'll update soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay I know that everyone is probably really confused about who Aryan is. She is my OC, the silver Ninja of Energy. I'm also working on another story _The Energy Within: The Origin of the Silver Ninja of Energy_ which explains where Aryan comes into the story if you are curious. Thanks for all your feedback!**

It can't be. She went back home...didn't she? I don't know and I don't care. All I know is she needs my help just as much as the others.

"Follow our voices Kai!', she repeated.

"Please Kai, we need you!'

"I'm trying Lloyd! I'm trying!"

I ran for what seemed like ages, through twisting passages and unexpected dead ends. I was never going to find them. I turned the corner after what seemed like an endless passageway...and ran straight into a dead end. I gasped. This is where their voices were coming from, I was sure of it! I slowly backed away towards the exit. But instead of going back out into the passageway, I hit something cold and hard. I turned around and screamed. I fell on the ground and shielded my face from the attack, but nothing happened. I looked back up, into a set of hazel eyes, my own. I had been scared off by my own reflection. Never have I been so happy that Jay wasn't here. I stood up and looked around. I was in a hexagonal shaped room, mirror were on every wall. I spun around, six Kai's spun around with me. I sat down and pulled my knees up to my chest an laid my head down on my knees. I was never going to save everyone in time. I didn't even try to cover the tears, I just let them flow.

"Ha! Look at the little baby crying! Do you need your mommy.?"

I slowly raised my head and looked at the mirror in front of me, instead of seeing a seventeen year old with messy brown hair, hazel eyes and a tear soaked face, I saw Jay, looking down at me with a sneer on his face.

"Jay?", I said asked in surprise.

"That's right. So sorry I couldn't be there to watch you mess this all up for everyone again."

I stood up, "What do you mean by again?"

Just then, in the mirror next to Jay, Cole appeared, with a horrible grin on his face.

"Well Kai, it isn't much of a secret that your the worse member on the team. Everyone despises you, even your own sister."

"Well this is news to me," I retorted, "normally, the big, bossy leader is the one everyone hates." I was trying very hard to hide how scared and upset I was, but to no avail, my voice shook.

"Aw, does the little baby need me to go get our mommy? Oh yeah, I can't because she's dead, and it's All. Your. Fault.

My heart sped up. I slowly turned around, Nya was standing in the mirror, larger than life, just like the others. She had the same horrible smile as Cole.

My voice shook even more, "What do you mean, Nya? Mom died of natural causes."

"Oh Kai, you thought your secret was safe, didn't you?", Nya said with a sneer.

"What secret?"

"I know all about the sword Kai, you thought you were alone, but you weren't. I was there I saw the whole thing."

My eyes grew wide, I didn't need to be surrounded by mirrors to know that. The memory came flooding back, a memory I had tried so hard to forget.

_ It was mid-morning. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping. All and all, it was the perfect day. I woke up feeling great, today was the day. The day I would make my first sword. I jumped down the stairs. My mother was in the kitchen, making pancakes._

"_Hey Mom," I said, sitting down at the table, "where's Dad?"_

"_He went to Ninjago City sweetie," my mom said as she set a plate of pancakes down in front of me, "he won't be back until Tuesday."_

"_Oh," I said less enthusiastically, " I kinda wanted to try to make a sword today. Can you help me?"_

"_No sweetie, I don't know anything about making swords. So please, stay out of your father's workshop until he gets home, it's not safe."_

"_Okay, Mom."_

_She leaned over and hugged me._

"_Okay, now run along my little munch-kin."_

_I smiled as I got up from the table. I ran outside around the house to my father's workshop and pushed open the doors. I knew exactly what to do. I would make a sword to surprise my mom and show her I could do it._

_I worked all day on my sword. I did exactly what my dad did, every time I came in to watch him. I worked and worked. The sun was very low in the sky when I pulled my sword out of the fire and pushed it into the large barrel of water, making a large cloud of steam._

_When I pulled the sword out of the barrel, it was all twisted and bent._

"_Ug!", I shouted, "I can never do anything right!"_

_I swung the sword off to the side and pulled my apron over my head._

"_Kai."_

_I pulled my apron off my head and slowly turned around, just in time to see my mother fall over in the doorway, the end of a bent sword sticking out of her chest._

I snapped back into reality and looked up at Nya. She had a devilish smile on her face.

"I knew you remembered," she said, "you've lived with the guilt for so long, you thought it was a normal part of life. I can't believe Dad sided with you, and told the town Mom died of "natural causes." You took everything from me that day, and I have never forgiven you for it."

Just then, Aryan appeared in the mirror to Nya's left.

"Now you will die here with the guilt", she said with a sneer. Then she tilted back her head, and began to laugh, the others joined her. I spun around, Zane, Lloyd and Sensei appeared in the empty mirrors, their mouths locked in an eternal laugh.

I sat there, listening to them laugh. The adrenaline slowly began to fill my veins. I reached up and grabbed my sword off my back and slammed the hilt into the mirror containing Nya. Her image shattered, but the laughing didn't stop. That made me even more angry. I smashed the mirrors containing Cole, Jay and Lloyd. Then Aryan, Sensei and Zane. The laughter hung in the air until the last piece of glass.

All of the sudden, a large booming voice came out of the air.

"Congratulations, Fire Starter, You've completed the First Challenge.

The Mirror of Fears."

The panel that had once contained Cole slid open to lead into a dark room. I looked into the darkness and took a step forward. But I stopped, I bent down and picked up one shard of glass. No longer did I see a scared teenager, I saw a hero. A bloody, cut up hero. For one split second, I thought I saw all of them, waving at me.

"Don't worry. I will stop Armageddon in time. I will save you."

I pocketed the piece of mirror as I stepped through the doorway and was consumed by the darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

I couldn't see anything. I've been walking for what seemed like hours. This is hopeless. I was never gonna find my way out. Just as I was about to give up, my shin hit something hard. I stifled a loud cry and began to hop around, holding my shin. All of a sudden, a bright light came on out of nowhere. I was momentarily blinded and fell over, but instead of hitting the hard ground, I hit something soft.

I opened my eyes, I was in a warm, softly lit room. The fire was going strong, and there was a spicy smell in th air. I looked down at what I had landed on, it was a dark, leather couch.

"Okay, where the hell am I?"

"Kai!" a voice yells from another room, "Can you come help me bake the cake for tomorrow's trip to the homeless shelter."

I stood up and found a hall off to the side of the room. I glanced down the hall, there was a single room lit up at the end. I slowly walked down the hall. I walked into a warmly lit kitchen.

"Kai are you gonna help or not?"

I looked over to see a woman with curly red hair and bright green eyes. She was wearing a frilly, pink apron and holding a frying pan in her right hand. I must have had a look of confusion on my face because her eyebrows knit together with concern.

"Your not getting sick are you?"

"Um," I looked at her, "Maybe. Who are you exactly?"

She gave me an apprehensive look, "Fine, I'll play your game this time, but I won't ever again. I'm Cam. Your girlfriend.

My girlfriend? I had always wanted a girlfriend, but I'm just too busy with my ninja duties.

"Fine. I can see you don't want to help. I'm already pretty much done." Cam looked at me," Why don't you go up to bed, we have to be up bright and early tomorrow to go to the homeless shelter."

I eventually found my way up to a room that looked like it could be mine. Everything in it was red, so I'm guessing it was mine. I didn't sleep at all that night. Cam? When the hell did I get a girlfriend named Cam? Why the did I live here instead of on the Bounty? And what kind of challenge was this?

I thought about this until the alarm on my bedside table went off. I had just finished getting dressed when Cam poked her head into my room.

"Oh good your up. You ready to go?"

"Um, ready as I'll ever be."

"Do you want me to drive?"

"Uh yeah, " I said, "thanks."

I stared out the window the entire trip. I could tell that Cam or whoever she was, was really worried.

"Kai, sweetie? Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, just tired that's all."

She smirked at me, "Well you better be awake enough to be swarmed by little homeless kids because that's where we're going first."

When we arrived at the shelter, the receptionist lead us back to the kids room.

"We have four 1-4 year olds, 2 twelve year olds, and one seventeen year old," said the receptionist, then she looked over at me, "I think you two will get along really well."

She stopped in front of a bright yellow door with multicolored hand prints and opened it. Cam and I walked in and took in the surroundings.

"Well," said the receptionist, "these are our youngest," she gestured to the four children playing with blocks on the carpet, "those are our twelve year olds," she pointed her red nail-polished finger at the two children arguing in the corner, "and sitting in the back is our oldest."

I looked toward the back and gasped. Sitting in the back dressed in a leather jacket, white t-shirt and jeans, throwing a ball against the wall...

was Zane.

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the short chapter. :( I'll try to update tomorrow with a longer chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone! Congratulations on making it to December 22nd! Yay us! But will Kai? As usual please R & R!**

Zane? What was he doing here! And not on the Bounty? Doesn't he know that will always be his home? And what's with the leather jacket bad boy look? He struck me as that kind of person. And how the hell did he end up here, in this crazy place?

I walked over to him, unsure of what I should say.

"Um, hey Zane."

He looked up at me and squinted.

"Do I know you?"

"It's me, Kai! Remember! From the Bounty!"

"Look Kid, I don't know any Kai."

What! He doesn't remember me! And Kid? I'm only a month younger than him! And he just said _don't_ not _do not_! What was that all about?

"I guess you must not remember. I try to jog your memory. You were the Ninja of Ice on the Bounty. Your an android, which our other friend Jay changed to Nindroid, as a joke. Then you met a girl who you really care about but you won't talk about her because you said things were complicated and..."

Zane held up his hand, a gesture for my to stop talking. I smiled. He must have remembered. He was gonna help me! But then he balled his hand into a fist, and punched me really hard in the nose.

I fell on the ground, clutching my now bleeding nose. I grabbed a little kiddie mirror off the table. It may have distorted my image, but I could still tell my nose was pretty bad. I felt it, it didn't seem to be broken. I stood up, walked over to Zane, and punched as hard as I could in the gut.

Let's just say that I was not proud of what happened in the next few minutes. I think all those other little kids in the nursery were scarred for life. To make a long story filled with blood and punching and loud cusses short, let's just say it ended up with Cam sitting in the car, not looking at either of us, as she drove us to the hospital.

I had a black eye, torn muscle in my calf, and a broken left arm. Zane had a broken right leg, and various cuts and bruises all over his body. They forced us to sit in the same room as we waited for the doctor to examine us. Neither of us said a word for almost an hour.

"Your crazy."

I looked over at Zane. I know he didn't remember, but I still didn't like people calling me names.

"As I told you before, you look like a friend of mine and I was confused."

He looked like he was about to say something, but the nurse came in.

"Zane Julian, the doctor will see you now, and when you are finished, Miss. Darby is waiting for you in the lobby."

The nurse left the room, and Zane stood up and grabbed his crutches and walked over towards the door.

"Wait."

He looked back at me.

"What about Aryan?"

His eyes immediately fell to the ground. After what seemed like hours he spoke.

"Hand me that blue pen, and that napkin."

I did as I was told and he scribbled something on the napkin, folded it and handed it back to me. I put in my pocket, I would look at it later.

"Your going to the prison next right?"

"Yeah, I think Cam's on this "good deeds" things."

He looked at me, his eyes dead serious.

"A word of advice, stay away from Prisoner 2334."

"Why?"

"He is one crazy bitch."

"How would you know?"

"He's in because of me."

"What did he do?"

Zane smiles.

"I'll leave that for you to figure out yourself."

Then he walked out into the hall.

Cam was angry at me the entire ride over to the prison, so I used the silence to check out what Zane had given me. He had scribbled an address on the paper. 205 Angels Lane.

"Hey Cam, on our way, can we stop at 205 Angles Lane?"

She didn't say anything for a long time.

"Sure," she said, her anger still apparent in her voice, "it's right next to the prison anyway."

I smiled and relaxed. If anyone knew what was going on, it would be Aryan.

About five minutes later, we pulled up to an old cemetery.

"What? This can't be right."

Cam gave me a look.

"This is 205 Angles Lane, the cemetery."

Why would Zane give me the address to an old cemetery?

Then, it all made sense.

I took off running down the isles, looking for a specific tombstone. Then, I stopped and fell to my knees. Aryan Brookestone. Clear as day. I couldn't help myself, I began to cry. Why was this challenge toying with my head? Why can't I figure our what it wants from me?

Cam caught up to me and laid her hand on my shoulder. She stared at the tombstone.

"Did you know her?"

"Yes."

"I'm so sorry Kai."

"You two had better get out of here, the inmates are about to come on their daily visit to help clean up the cemetery."

We both turned around and looked at the person who had spoken. It was a kid my age, dressed in a blue shirt and brown overalls.

"Jay?"

"Yeah. What's it to ya?"

He was holding a bouquet of flowers, which he proceeded to lay down on the grave next to Aryan's.

"You really should get out of here," he said, "last time I was here, looking at this grave, and the inmates showed up, well you can see what happened."

He pointed to the scar on his right eyebrow. Cam smiled.

"Well thank you Mr...?"

"Walker."

"Thank you Mr. Walker, we were just on our way to the prison and Kai wanted to stop here and see his friend."

Jay looked at me, concern in his big, blue eyes.

"Sorry about your friend."

"It's alright. I'm sorry about your...?"

He looked down at the ground, like the dirt was suddenly very interesting.

"Parents."

I looked over at the grave. Edward and Edna Walker. What the hell is going on with this world?!

"I'm so very sorry, your parents were great people."

Jay looked at me.

"You knew them?"

"Sorta, we met a few times when I went to the junkyard to drop stuff off."

That was a lie, but I don't want another episode like what happened with Zane. Slowly, I picked a patch of three small butter cups and laid on on Aryan's grave, and the other two on Ed and Edna's. I looked up at Jay, he had tears streaming down his face. I stood up, and began to walk away.

"Thank you."

I looked back at him.

"Your very welcome."

I walked over to the car and climbed inside, Cam followed soon after. Just as we were pulling away, I saw Jay remove a single rose from his bouquet and lay it on Aryan's tombstone. I smiled.

Thanks Jay, she would have appreciated it.

The jail was cold and dark, but Cam walked right in like she owned the place. I followed closely behind.

"Excuse me sir," she said when she got to the front desk, "but can you please direct us to your Juvenile Hall unit?"

"Yes ma'am, right this way."

We followed the cop through twisting passageways until he stopped and opened a door labeled "Juvenile Hall."

"The inmates are out in the cemetery at the moment, but they should be back very soon. Is there is anything else I can do for you folks."

Cam started to say no, but I stopped her.

"Can you give me the information regarding Prisoner 2334?"

The guards smile immediately turned to a frown, but he went over behind the desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a folder with a large black 2334 written on the front.

"He's our oldest inmate in Juvenile Hall," he said as he handed me the folder, "the most dangerous too. Try not to get on his bad side."

Then he opened the door and went back out into the hall. Cam looked at me with confusion and I gave her a look that said, "I'll tell you about it later."

According to the file, he's seventeen years old and was arrested for attempted murder. I wonder who he was trying to murder?

I flipped to the last page in the file so I could see his name. The moment I read it, I nearly passed out.

Colston Brookestone.

Damn it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay everyone, there has been some confusion about Colston. That is just Cole's full name, it's not a new OC or anything. Also, this is a very long challenge, so I've decided to split it up into four chapters. Thanks! Don't forget to R & R!**

Cole.

Cole was in jail for attempted murder.

I quickly flipped to the second page and read the information in his file about the day he was arrested.

_ On October 30th, 2010 at 10:53 p.m. Brookestone was found outside the homeless shelter, ._

_threatening a boy named Zane Julian with a knife. He kept claiming that Julian killed his younger sister, who was buried earlier that week. Julian kept trying to reason with Brookestone, but Brookestone would not listen, and attacked Julian. Julian eventually got the knife away from Brookestone, but he wasn't done yet. He grabbed Julian by the throat and choked him while yelling things like, "She was too good for you!" When the police arrived, Julian was seconds away from suffocation. Brookestone was apprehended and given a 30 year sentence. The trial took place on November 14th._

I just sat there for a moment, not knowing what to think. Then I stood up and placed the file back on the desk. I walked over to Cam.

"Hey, can I borrow your cell phone? It will only take a minute I swear."

She looked at me and sighed, then reached in her purse and pulled the phone out and handed it to me.

"Thanks." , I said. Then I walked out the door.

I eventually found my way to the front of the jail and walked out the door. Then, I pulled a business card I had taken off the front desk in the homeless shelter out of my pocket. I dialed the number and listened to the phone ringing. It was hard to talk, cause I was used to holding the phone with my right hand. On the fifth ring, the receptionist picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Miss. Darby. It's Kai, from earlier and I was wondering if I could talk to Zane for one second?"

There was silence on her end.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Please, can I just talk to him for a few minutes?"

She sighed, and I could hear her brisk footsteps as she walked down the hall. I heard the sound of a door opening and some quiet muttering.

"Hello?", Zane asked when he finally picked up.

"Do you have a car?"

"Um, sometimes the receptionist let's me borrow her car."

"Great. Meet you at the cemetery in five minutes." Then, I snapped the phone closed.

Five minutes later on the dot, Zane walked, well hobbled, down the row of tombstones to where I was standing near Aryan's tombstone. He bent down and looked at the flowers on her and Ed and Edna's graves.

"You met Jay then, huh?'

"Yeah he's a good kid. But you must know I didn't ask you to come all the way down here to discuss your girlfriend's neighbors."

He looked at the ground.

"You read the file, you know he tried to kill me and you want to know the whole story."

I crossed my arms, which hurt immensely, but I had to look serious.

"That about sums it all up."

He sighed, then sat down on the grass in front of her tombstone, which probably hurt, but her didn't show it.

"I should have stopped her. Cole knows I should have, but I didn't."

"Didn't stop her from what?"

He looked up at me, his blue eyes staring straight into my soul. He sighed.

"Aryan and I were sitting in the house she shared with Cole, taking about our future and stuff when she gets a call on her cell phone. It was one of her friends. He told her there was a party out on 8th Street that she really had to come to. It was already three in the morning, I told her it wasn't worth it. We got into a big fight about it, and she ended up leaving. I was really mad, so I got in my car and drove back to the shelter. I was just locking the car when my cell phone buzzed. My caller ID said it was from Aryan and I thought she was calling to apologize. When I picked up the phone, it was this cop, asking my name and my relationship with her and other stuff. I was really confused, so I asked if she had gotten arrested. The cop told me that she hadn't gotten arrested, but the party had gotten a little out of control. A boy at the party, who was drunk out of his mind, well, he found a gun."

I didn't know what to say. Zane was crying now, so I walked over and laid my hand on his shoulder.

"The last time I spoke to her, I shouted. I should have hugged and kissed her, I should have told her I loved her. That is my only regret in this world. About a week later Cole showed up with the knife. That's really all there is to tell."

I looked at him for the longest moment.

"You said you know mostly everyone in this town, right?"

He wiped his nose on his sleeve.

"Yeah."

"Tell me about Lloyd Garmadon and Nya Ignis."

He thought about it for a moment, then he spoke.

"Lloyd is that little drug addict that lives on the corner of South and Main and Nya ran off with some biker and no one has seen her since."

I just stared at him for a moment. This isn't a challenge, this is a nightmare. Everything is so wrong! Everything is messed up and none of my friends remember that we were once..., once, what were we? Oh my God, they're getting to me! We were NINJA! NINJA! I repeat that over and over in my head.

"Well, I guess I better be going."

Zane tried to stand up, but grimaced and fell back down. I grabbed his arm with my one good one, and helped him up.

"Thanks." , he said as he grabbed his crutches off the ground.

"Here," I said, "I'll help you back to your car."

"Hey! Where do you think your going punks?" A voice shouted from behind us, we turned around and saw an inmate, his face hidden by the shadows. Crap, I completely forgot they were here.

"Oh," he said, his silhouette pointed over at Zane, "It's you, and you have one lame leg, so you won't be able to run away. Good."

He stepped out into the sunlight, Zane took a step back.

"Hello Zane," Cole said with a sneer as he cracked his knuckles, "long time, no see."

Damn it.

**Hey guys! I forgot to mention that I won't be able to update tommorrow, sorry! See you on the 24th!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm back everyone! Thanks for all your support! Now i'm gonna get back to the story because I know you all want to know what happens to Zane and Kai.**

We are so totally hooped.

My arm is broken, so I won't be able to fight as well and Zane, well, Zane can't remember HOW to fight and his leg is broken, so he can't get away.

Cole took another step towards us.

"I think it's time you and I had a little heart-to-heart, what do ya say Zane?"

Zane gulped.

"Um, I'm pretty swamped at the moment so maybe we could catch up another time."

Zane spun around on his one good heel and tried to walk away, but Cole reached out and grabbed him by his jacket collar.

"Like I said, we need to have a nice, long chat. Sit down."

Zane was visibly shaking, but he did as he was told, trying to hide his obvious pain. Cole looked at me, then down at Zane.

"Who's your friend, another one of your drug dealing, pot smoking buddies?"

"No, I'm a friend concered about the well-being of your sister."

I shouldn't have said that, because next thing I know, Cole had a hold of my shirt and was holding me up against a tree. There was something in his eyes, and if I didn't think fast, he was gonna kill both of us, and bury us next to Aryan.

"What did you say punk?"

I tried to make myself taller, which is harder when your pinned up against a tree.

"I said, I'm concered about the well-being of your sister."

He stared at me, then he swung me around and threw me against Aryan's tombstone. My head hit the side really hard, but I refused to show him any sign of weakness.

"Take a look, then tell me how concered you are for her "well-being"

I looked up at him, but he was already beginning to turn on Zane.

"You should have stopped her! Now she's dead because of you!"

I heard it, he didn't think I was paying attention. There was a falter in his voice, that wasn't the whole truth and he knew it.

"Where were you?"

Cole turned and looked at me.

"What?"

I stood up, very slowly, so he wouldn't take it as a challenge.

"Zane told me that they were in the house you shared with your sister the night of the accident. It was three in the morning when she left, you should have been in the house at that time."

He just stared at me for a long moment, then he walked over and punched me. I fell on the ground and tried to stop the blood from flowing. This was like the third time today I've bled. I stood up once again this time I rasied my voice.

"You heard the argument, you knew she would go. If anything, YOU should have stopped her from going. That's why you tried to kill Zane. You knew it was your fault, but you needed a scapegoat, someone you could pin it on so you could feel better about yourself. Was it worth it? Was it worth losing your best friend?"

Zane looked up at me in surprise.

"I knew Zane wasn't telling me the whole truth, when he talked about you, there was not a single drop of fear or anxiety. I've met many near murder victims and it gives them nightmares just to say the person's name. Zane wasn't like that at all."

Cole was looking at me now as well, with something more than anger in his eyes, something that proved to me that he still cared. I took a small step towards Cole.

"That's when it hit me, Zane wasn't scared of you physically, he was scared of your anger. That's when it all began to make sense. Most brothers become close to their sister's boyfriends, you two, on the other hand, had been friends since high-school. You blamed him for something he didn't do and you paid the ultimate price. What would Aryan say? Do you think she would have been happy about this? Do you Cole?"

Both Zane and Cole looked down, when they finally raised their eyes to one another, they both had a new look in their eye, a look of pure...hatred. Damn, I thought I had gotten it right. Why didn't I pay more attention when Aryan was teaching us how to read people's facial expressions?

Cole walked over and grabbed my upper arm. I'm dead.

"For you information I was at a meeting that night, Zane offered to come spend the night at our house because Aryan didn't want to be alone. And are you insane? I didn't even know Zane exsisted before Aryan started dating him!"

Okay. That's it. I'm sick and tired of this bullcrap, I'm sick and tired of this challenge! If they won't remember, I'll just have to make them.

"No! I just think that Aryan was lucky to get someone so good to her, and you were lucky that she didn't start dating some biker and run away with her like MY little sister!"

Zane looked at me in surprise.

"You didn't tell that biker girl was your sister."

I'm done, I'm done with all of this. I felt my fire burning inside of me, and I wasn't going to tame it. I exploded.

"SHE ISN'T! MY LITTLE SISTER IS A SAMURI ON THE BOUNTY WITH US! ZANE IS CALM AND COLLECTED, STILL DATING YOUR SISTER! YOUR ALL THE LEADER OF OUR GROUP, ROCK SOLID, YOU WOULD NEVER HURT ANY OF US! JAY IS THE QUIRKY LITTLE INVETOR OF OUR GROUP, ALWAYS MAKING JOKES, AND DATING MY SISTER! AND APPEARENTLY, I'M THE GLUE THAT HOLDS OUR GROUP TOGETHER!"

Zane and Cole looked at me in horrier, they were obviously surprised by my outburst.

"LLOYD IS NOT A DRUG ADDICT, HE'S THE GREEN NINJA! WE ALL ARE! WE FIGHT FOR THE PEOPLE! NOT FOR OUR OWN PERSONAL GAIN! AND YOU WOULDN'T BECAUSE MOST IMPORTANTLY **ARYAN IS STILL ALIVE!**"

Just as I had finished the sentence, the ground shook, and the sky turned red. The ground began to split open, and Jay, Nya and Lloyd crawled out and joined Zane and Cole. I felt a seering pain in my arm and was surprised to find, it had healed. All my frineds were now making a ring around me, I was trapped.

"We weren't ninja.", they all said in a creepy monotone voice.

I pulled my sword of my back as my ninja suit began to cover my body. I reached back and pulled my hood over my head. I pointed my sword at them.

"We were! And that's a truth I won't stop screaming until I'm in my grave!"

They all cocked their heads in the same, creepy monotone fashion.

"As you wish."

It happened so fast, I couldn't stop it. Nya lashed out and grabbed my sword, while the boys grabbed all my limbs and picked me up. Everytime I struggeled,a little shock ran up and down my body. I didn't care.

"We're ninja! You have to remember! You have too!"

They led me over to Aryan's grave. Cole made a gesture with his hand and a coffin began to rise out of the ground. It opened with a loud hiss, Aryan was in there, looking peaceful, as if she were sleeping. Bur it was not to last.

She opened her eyes, they were glowing red, and she spoke.

"Come and join me Kai. I'm so lonely down here all by myself."

Before I could protest, my friends threw me in and slammed the coffin shut. I could here the slow pats as the dirt hit the coffin lid. I scratched on the lid.

"REMEMBER WE WERE NINJA! WE WERE NIN..."

Aryan's cold fingers latched around my neck. I knew it was the end, I was running out of air. I'm so sorry guys, I couldn't save you.

Using my last breath, I yelled out one last time, but I couldn't hear myself. The fingers got tighter and my eyes began to close.

I'm sorry.

I felt the cold receed and the weight on my chest was lifted. I opened my eyes and I was back in the dark room, the door I had gone through before was now sealed shut. What happened?

"Congragulations, you have completed the Second Task.

The City of Confusion."


	8. Chapter 8

I'm not dead.

I'm not dead!

I solved the second challenge! I'm halfway there! I have a chance, I'm going to save my friends, I'm going to beat Armageddon, and I'm going to save Ninjago!

In the middle of my celebration when a bright light came out of nowhere, temporarily blinding me. After forever, the light began to fade, and I slowly opened my eyes.

No, no it can't be!

I was back in the City of Confusion.

I looked around, my heart pounding in my ears. Something was different, the sky was dark, the air smelled like gunpowder, and their was a distant sound of guns being fired. I started walking and heard a loud crunch underneath my foot. I looked down and saw pieces of white everywhere, there was still a large piece of whatever I had broken near my foot. I kicked it over and gasped.

It was a human skull.

I backed away and I tripped over something, causing me to fall into something hard. I glanced up at what I had fallen over, it was a tombstone. I stood up and inspected what I had fallen against. It was the same tree that Cole had held me up against not minutes ago.

I was still in the cemetery, I ran over to the spot where Aryan's grave sat, and was surprised to find that instead of her name, someone named Benjamin Hamey was buried here.

Just as I was about to go look for Aryan's grave, I hear a robotic voice behind me.

"Your identification papers."

I turned around and found a gigantic robot, hovering about four feet off the ground.

"Um, I don't have any papers."

Almost immediately after I said that, the robot seized my arm.

"Let me go!"

The robots voice was deeper than before.

"You must now answer to my master."

"I said, LET ME GO!"

I made my fire travel up my arms, melting the metal on the robot's arm.

The robot began to malfunction, he was sparking and speaking gibberish. Just when I thought I couldn't call anymore attention to myself, the robot exploded with a loud bang.

I slowly backed away from the wreckage. Just as I thought I was going to get away unnoticed, I felt a hand pulling on my hair and a knife pressed against my throat. A petite but tough voice whispered in my ear.

"Come with me if you want to live."

My heart sped up.

"Okay, but only if you agree to take the knife off my throat.

I felt the cold steel slowly begin to pull away from my neck. And I stepped back and looked at my pursuer and my eyes widened.

"Nya?"

**Sorry about the short chapter, but I wanted to leave off on a cliff-hanger.**

**Until tomorrow's update, Merry Christmas!**


	9. Chapter 9

Nya?

I thought she had run off with some biker dude? What was she doing here?

"Nya?"

She looked at me, not letting any kind of emotion slip into her face.

"Yea, what's it to ya? Now are you coming or not?"

I gestured towards the exit.

"Lead the way."

But instead of walking toward the exit, she began walking towards the back of the cemetery, I followed closely behind, wondering where we were going.

She arrived at the most dumpy part of the cemetery and took a sharp left, where a tombstone, about five times the size of a normal one, was waiting. She walked to the front and traced her hand over the now illegible name on the stone, then she reached up and touched a stone rose carved into the top. The moment her hand touched the rose, it sank into the tombstone and the side of it slid away to reveal a dark passageway.

I gulped as I began to make way down, Nya following closely. As we walked, the passageway became more and more lit, until we came to a large steel door with two lit torches on either side. Nya walked in front of me and rapped on the door, two long, two short. Within seconds, the door opened to reveal...people. Just normal people. What were they doing down here?

"They seek shelter with the Rebellion," Nya said, answering my unasked question, "we keep them safe, and out of the G-Bots reach."

Rebellion?

"G-Bots? Is that what attacked me up in the cemetery?"

"Yes, and the whole reason your down here."

After a few large rooms with dozens of people, we came to a mine shaft elevator. We stepped in and Nya hit a button. The elevator began to lurch and I fell down, but Nya remained standing, as if unaffected.

The elevator finally stopped. Nya smiled.

"Now this, is where the magic happens."

The doors slid open, and all I saw were dozens and dozens of soldiers, training to fight. They were all dressed in black and camo green, mostly guys but there was a girl here and there.

She lead me through all of the big, sweaty mass of people until we got to another large, steel door. She knocked, and a pair of eyes appeared in a square hole at the top of the door.

"What do you need?"

Nya stood up straighter, if that was even possible, and responded.

"We need to speak to the Council, it's urgent."

The eyes stared at her for a moment, the said.

"Wait on that bench over there while I call them all to order."

We walked over and sat on the hard, wooden bench, while we waited Nya, prepped me on what to do when I met this "Council."

"Okay, the Council is made up of five people, it used to be six, but that's a story for later. It's made up of our Special Ops, Technology, Weapons, Hand-to-Hand Combat and Battle Planning commanders. I'm the Battle Planning Commander, so I'm just a bit lower it command than the others. Don't provoke ANY of them, do you hear me? They will crush you like a bug."

I gulped, these people sounded like they should be in prison, not running a Rebellion.

Just then, a large man stepped out into the hall.

"The Council will see you now."

We stood up and walked through the door.

It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen! This was a full out battle control station! I've only ever seen these in movies!

We then walked into the heart of it all, there was a large table in the middle that I knew had to be one of those cool things that projected images onto it's surface.

We walked in and stood around the table with the four others already in there. I couldn't see their faces, because they were all in a huddle, crowded around something we couldn't see.

Nya loudly cleared her throat, and they all turned to look at us.

Of course.

The one with the dark hair turned to look at Nya.

"This had better be good Ignis, I had to leave my squad in the middle of testing out some new tech."

The brunette shouted over all the others.

"What's this piece of trash you brought us now."

The only girl of that group walked over to me, and began to walk around me in circles.

"He's pretty well built, I think we could use him."

She stuck her hand out for me to shake.

"And your name is...?"

"Kai." I replied, taking her hand.

She smiled.

"Nice to meet you Kai, I'm Aryan, the Hand-to-Hand Combat Commander. The dark and angry one is my older brother Cole, Weapons Commander, the loud one is Jay, Special Ops Commander and the quiet one in the back is Zane, Tech Commander."

I grinned.

"Nice to meet you all."

What I really wanted to say was how nice to see you all again and thank you for at least getting some of your personality traits right this time, but I kept my mouth shut.

Aryan turned her attention to Nya.

"Why did you bring him here?"

"I was walking home from mapping out the hill, when I saw this kid, Kai, he took out a G-Bot with his bare hands."

Aryan seemed very impressed, she walked over to me.

"Nya brought you here because we need a new Council member, a Info Commander, our old one was, shall we say, terminated."

"And what would an Info Commander do?"

"It's simple, you take a small group of people of your choosing and you break into places and steal information. You get in and you get out, easy as that."

"Whoa," interrupted Cole before I could answer, "we barely even know this kid and your offering him a spot on the Council?"

"We need a new Info Commander," Aryan replied calmly, then she turned her attention back to me, "so, will you do it?"

"No.", Cole replied firmly.

Just as Aryan was about to protest, Zane spoke up, the first time since I had arrived.

"Aryan is correct, his forces are even stronger now, we need him."

The corners of Aryan's mouth turned up slightly.

"Thank you Zane."

He gave her a small smile.

She turned to me once again.

"So?"

I looked around, everyone but Cole seemed to be pleading me with their eyes, I looked back down at Aryan.

"Yes, I'll do it."

Everyone started slapping each other high-fives.

"But on one condition," their attention turned back to me, "you tell me who were up against."

Everyone's expression darkened, and Jay walked over to the table and hit a button. An image appeared on the surface of the table.

I gasped.

"This is Lloyd Garmadon, self proclaimed ruler of our people."

Damn.


	10. Chapter 10

Of course it had to be Lloyd.

I mean, who needs a regular villain that hold no emotional background for me when you can just use Lloyd. The kid I had sworn to protect, no matter how annoying he may be.

"Okay Commander Kai," Aryan said, interrupting my thoughts, "your first mission will be to break into Garmadon's fortress and get all the information you can about him, since we know very little."

"Oh, that won't be necessary."

I walked over to where Zane was quietly inputting my information into the Rebellion's database.

"Are you almost finished?"

Zane looked up at me.

"Yes, I have just finished putting all of your information into our database, do you require use of our system?"

"Yes I do."

Zane stood up and gestured to the chair he was just sitting in. I sat down and quickly located the file on Lloyd. I clicked on it and pulled it up. Man, they really had no idea, every category was empty.

"What are you doing Kid?" Cole was behind me, looking over my shoulder.

"I," I said as I began to type information into the computer, "am filling in the information about Llo... er, Garmadon."

Jay walked over to me, obviously impressed.

"We've been at this for almost two years and we haven't been able to get one lick of information on Garmadon. Then this complete stranger shows up and has almost everything on him. How?"

I looked up from the computer screen, everyone was looking at me expectantly.

"Um, don't you think he had a life before he turned into a madman? Or did you think he just crawled out of a dark hole somewhere?"

Nya came up to me.

"You were his friend? Maybe you could talk to him! Tell him that he should stop!"

Aryan came up and laid her hand on Nya's shoulder.

"Nya, we can't get our hopes up. Kai hasn't seen Garmadon in two years. He might have changed."

I continued to write information, but at a slower speed than I had been. Just as I was about to finish up when I heard Zane speak up.

"Aryan, look."

She walked over to where Zane was looking at the information on another computer screen. He pointed at a particular section. She squinted at the screen, then looked over at me.

"I think you put this information in wrong."

I began scrolling through the file.

"I don't see anything."

Aryan walked over and pointed to the section that asked for Lloyd's age. I looked.

"Yeah, what about it?"

She gave me a pointed look.

"It says here that Garmadon is only eleven."

"Um, yeah. You have seen him haven't you?"

Cole stiffed a laugh, then disappeared into a side hall. He appeared again about two minutes later, holding a rolled-up poster in his hand.

"Yeah, we've seen Garmadon, but have you?"

He laid the poster down on the table and unrolled it.

That was Lloyd alright, but there was one problem.

Last time I checked, Lloyd was eleven, not twenty.

I looked up at the others, who had all clustered around the table .

"Okay, apparently, I haven't seen Lloyd in a while. What year is it?"

Jay looked at me like I was stupid.

"Uh, 2012."

What the hell was going on here? Okay, I just need some time to think this over. I was part of a Rebellion, which was against Lloyd, by the way.

I'm so very confused.

"Okay, everyone get some sleep, we have a big day of fighting Garmadon tomorrow."

Everyone went off into separate corners and for the first time, I noticed that the room was hexagonal.

"Are you going to bed or not?"

I turned around and saw Nya, standing right behind me.

"Um yeah, but I just need a few moments."

"Okay, your room is through that door when your ready."

She pointed at a door, then retreated into her own room. The lights went out.

Good, now I could get to work.

I walked over to the computer screen and powered it up. Damn. I needed a password to get into the others' files. I shut it off. That wasn't going to work. I may not have remembered how to read people's expressions, but I did remember one thing that Aryan had taught me. It doesn't matter how well you know the people, you need dirt on everyone to ensure you get what you want.

I stood up. I would have to wait, like those stakeouts we always have to do before we attack. If I knew my team, something would happen. Just as I said that, I heard a door quietly click open. I hid behind a large crate. Aryan slipped out of her room unnoticed. Or so she thought. She walked over to the door that Cole had gone through to retrieve the poster of Lloyd.

I stood up, ready to follow her, when I heard another lock click. I quickly ducked back down as Zane walked out of his room and tip-toed across the room and followed Aryan.

Man, this was gonna be good.


	11. Chapter 11

Okay, I may not know a lot about love but I do know one thing.

If a girl and a boy go into a room together in the dead of night, they usually have something to hide.

Perfect.

I quietly raced across the room and opened the door. I was in luck, the hinges had been oiled recently, so the door opened without a sound. I slipped in and quietly shut the door behind me. I turned around and was surprised to find myself in a large storage room. Great. I would never find them in here.

There was only one thing I could do. I walked over to where a large spool of thread was sticking out of a box. I tied the loose end to the doorknob and quickly unwound the rest of the spool, When I had located the other end, I tied it around my waist. I was going to have to wander around until I found them.

I walked through the endless maze of boxes, weapons and training dummies, quietly dragging my safety line along behind me. After about an hour of searching, I was ready to give up. This was hopeless I was never going to find them. I leaned down to pick up my safety line to follow it back, when I saw a soft, yellow light coming through a crack in a stack of boxes. I followed the light to a large clearing of boxes. I stepped in the circle, only to rush back behind the safety of the shadows, trying to calm my racing heart. Because there, sitting on a stack of boxes in the middle, were Aryan and Zane.

And they were kissing.

Awkward.

I watched them for a while, then, they finally stopped.

Aryan looked at Zane.

"And remember, we can't tell Cole. He would kill us both."

I smiled. Jackpot. I very quietly picked up my line and followed it home.

As I opened the door to my room and collapsed on my bed, I started thinking. Okay, I have my dirt on Aryan and Zane, but what about the others? I was having trouble keeping my eyes open, I yawned. That was a problem for tomorrow.

The next morning, I awoke to the sound of someone pounding on my bedroom door.

"Get up Kid!", Cole yelled through the door, "Time to start your training!"

I rolled out of bed and opened the door. Cole thrust a set of green and black clothes at me.

"Meet me on the floor in ten."

Then he closed the door.

I sleepy pulled on the new uniform and admired myself in the mirror on the wall. Green was a good color on me, but my loyalty would always lie with red. I swung on my sword as I walked out of my room, ready to do this training thing.

I had to ask six people for directions before I finally found my way to the Weapons Training Center. Cole was standing in the middle, tapping his toe and leaning on a terrifyingly large gun.

"Your late."

I gulped, keeping my eye on the gun.

"I kept getting lost."

Cole laughed.

"Of course you did."

Then, he picked up the gun and thrust it as me.

"Um, no." I said as I handed it back.

"What?"

I gulped.

"I...I don't do guns."

Cole gave me a very pointed look.

"Than what do you do?"

I pulled my sword out and showed it to him. Cole shook his head.

"Fine, but lets see how well you fight with it."

With that, he left the room, and returned a few minutes later with a silver sword, dull in comparison to the Sword of Fire.

"Let's dance."

I had him on the floor in two minutes flat. I offered my hand to help him up, but he pushed me away.

"I'm fine. You might be good with a sword, but I'm going to stick with guns."

He stood up and retrieved a pistol from a nearby table and threw it to me. I caught and looked at him.

"I just told you..."

"Take it. Better to be safe than sorry."

"Um, thanks."

I took the gun and placed it in the holder on my right hip. Just then I realized something, the arm that Zane broke was completely healed. I guess everything that happens in one challenge disappears when you go to another.

"Zane wants you to meet with him, by the way."

"Okay."

I walked over to the Tech Center, trying hard to keep a straight face. I kept thinking about last night and I couldn't help but smile.

I was about to turn the corner when a set of cold hands grabbed my shoulders and pulled my back. I was thrust down onto a barrel in a supply closet and a very hard voice came out from behind me.

"You tell Cole, Aryan or anyone what you saw last night," Zane stepped into the light, reached out and wrapped his cold hands around my neck, "I will rip your eyes out."

Oops.

**Hey everyone! Thanks so much for all the great reviews! I know the update is kind of late but I'll try to update again later today. If that doesn't happen, I'll update early tomorrow. Thanks again!**


	12. Chapter 12

I don't know what these challenges were supposed to be teaching me, but so far, i've only learned one thing.

Zane is a lot more dangerous than he lets on to be. I have more bruises with his name on them than I do from battling the villan.

"How did you know where to find us?" Zane's fingers tightened around my neck.

My Adam's apple was touching the back of my throat. I tried to swallow but the space was two small. I only had enough air to get out a few words, better chose them wisely.

"It...would be...much...easier to...talk...if you removed...your hands."

I felt a wave of cold relief slip over me as Zane loosened his hands and a rush of air filled my lungs. I fell to the ground, coughing and sputtering. My throat felt like it was on fire. I took a moment to catch my breath.

"Thank", I took another deep breath, trying to cool my burning throat, "you." I lowered my head to the ground and tried to cover up the gagging sounds I was making.

Zane gave me a cold, hard stare. Then he reached down, grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled my head up. It hurt. When did Zane get so damn violent?

"You must not understand what i'm asking you. How. Did. You. Know. Where. To. Find. Us?"

I couldn't tell him the truth. I would have to lie. I hope he wasn't as good smelling out a lie as he was smelling out a sneak.

"I was in my room when I heard a noise, I thought it might have been a G-Bot or a spy, so I went out to investigate. That's when I saw you and Aryan and I followed you."

Zane bent down and hissed in my ear.

"Why?"

I smiled slyly, which was a mistake because the moment I moment I did it, he punched me as hard as he could across the face. Then he threw me across the room.

Okay, that's it.

I stood up and held against the wall, holding my now spinning head.

"What the hell is wrong with you!"

Zane walked over to me, I was a few inches taller than him, but he showed no sign of fear.

"I'm the _Information _Commander! I was doing what you hired me for, gathering information!"

Zane walked over to the closed door and leaned against it, head in his hands.

"If Cole finds out, we are both dead."

Okay, now I felt kind of bad. I walked over and laid my hand on Zane's shoulder.

"Love always comes at a price. I know that first hand."

Zane looked up at me. There were tears in his eyes.

"You did not seem to me like the one to fall in love."

The flashback started to come flowing back to me, but I shook it off.

"Maybe i'll tell you about it someday."

Zane smiled.

"I would like that."

I smiled back at him.

"And I want you to know that your secret will be safe with me."

I stood up and opened the door. I walked down the hall. Now I was conflicted. I had the dirt, but was I going to use it?

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I ran right into Nya, who had been frantically writing in a book. He papers went flying everywhere and I quickly dropped down to help her scoop them up.

"I'm so sorry! I should have been watching where I was going!"

"No, no it was my fault."

Nya looked up at me from where she was gathering all her papers up and her eyes widened.

"Oh...oh my gosh! What happened to your face?"

I reached my hand up and gently carassed my cheek. Pain went shooting up my face, just as I feared, Zane had given me ANOTHER bruise.

"Uh, when I was training with Cole, I held a gun up to my face, trying to aim and the aftershock caused the gun to jump backwards and hit me in the face."

Nya just nodded and smiled, then she stood up and hurried away. Well, that was random. I looked down at my hands and noticed I was still holding a piece of paper.

"Nya, wait! You forgot something!"

But it was too late, she was already gone. I turned the paper over and was surprised to find a diary entry, written in Nya's neat handwriting.

_Dear Diary,_

_Today, I caught Jay looking at me. Or maybe he caught me looking at him, I can't be sure. Why can't I tell if he likes me? Why can't I tell him I like him? Who am I kidding, guys like that never go for quiet girls like me._

The e had a long line running down from it, she was obviously in the middle of writing this when I ran into her. I smiled and thought of Aryan and Zane. It makes me happy to know that some things haven't changed. I folded the note up and placed in into my pocket. I knew exactly what to do with this.


	13. Chapter 13

I ran back to my room as quickly as I could. I had to do this by tonight if it was gonna work. I rushed into the room and closed the door. I walked over to the little table in the corner, battle plans were sitting on the top, but I brushed them all aside. I pulled a new, clean sheet of paper out from one of the drawers, I also pulled out a pen. Then I reached into my pocket and pulled out Nya's diary entry.

Aryan and Zane might be good at drawing, Cole might have a way with mapping out things but I had a completely different skill set.

I was good at forging documents, better than I care to admit. I stared at the small, delicate handwriting and began to notice things, the amount of pressure she used, the way she ended her g's and y's with a loop, the general curves of the letters. Everyone's handwriting is like a finger print, their all different, but I had an eye for finding the differences.

After about an hour, I had finished. I held the two papers up to the light and smiled. They looked exactly the same aside from the fact I had written something a little different. I stood up and rubbed my eyes, I think I might have gone that whole hour without blinking.

I quietly poked my head out the door, no one was out in the corridors, hell, no one was out anywhere. I checked the clock sitting on the small table next to my bed and gasped. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't dreaming, I wasn't. The clock said it was three o'clock in the morning!

I was in here for A LOT longer than an hour.

I looked down at the paper I was holding. Almost twelve hours of making this thing better be worth it. I crept out and silently walked across the center to Jay's room. Unlike the rest of ours, Jay had a keypad to get into his room. Man, he must be really paranoid.

I knew that getting the combination wrong must trigger some kind silent alarm, so I would have to get it right the first time. Just as I was about to punch in a random phrase, an idea hit me. Jay couldn't remember anything, thats why he always carries a pen around, so he can write things on his hand. I knew this Jay would probably never take the chance of people seeing it written on his hand, so he must have it hidden around here somewhere.

I ran my hand down the door frame, trying to find a seam or a crack or something. Just as I was about to give up on the door frame, my nail slipped into a crack near the very bottom. Gingerly, I worked the piece of wood until a large chuck fell out. I reached into my uniform and pulled out the little flashlight we were all required to keep in our breast pocket. I flipped the switch ans smiled, sure enough the numbers 2334 were carved into the wood.

Wait a minute, that was Cole's prison identification, and come to think of it, when I was walking through the mirror maze, all the gold hinges had the number engraved on it.

I think I discovered something big.

I quickly replaced the wood chunk and shoved the note under the door instead of going back in. I ran over to Zane's computer and powered it up. The moment I get up the search engine, I typed in the number 2334. When the results came up, I nearly passed out.

_2334 was a means of torture by which the captured friends or family of the hero must admit small truths or be forced to do something to torture the hero, such as go to him and say horrible things and act as though they can't remember him. Sometimes, they are forced to tell things about themselves which can be used against the hero. _

Now it all made sense. No wonder Zane has been more violent, Cole has been meaner, Nya been shy and all that other crazy messed up stuff. The challenges were trying to warn me this entire time. My friends had been given Armageddon their personality traits and not only that,

they were giving him the wrong ones.

I looked back down at the computer screen and noticed on last little bit of information.

_If the numbers 2334 appears in a manipulated reality pertaining to a single person, it means that person has died._

My hands shook, my throat closed up and I began to sweat. 2334 had been Cole's prison number and Jay's code. Then, I remembered something horrible, when Nya has forced me to re-live the day of our mother's death, the younger version of her had been finger painting in the corner. I never thought about it until now.

Nya had been painting the numbers 2334.

I fell to my knees, tears streaming down my face.

Cole, Jay and Nya were dead.

I couldn't save them. I couldn't save my friends. I couldn't save my sister.

It was too late.

My fire flared up, I knew what I had to do. I would complete the challenges in time to save Aryan, Zane, Lloyd and Sensei.

Or die trying.


	14. Chapter 14

_It was cold and dark. Not a sound could be heard, only the slow beating of my own heart._

"_Hello?", I called out, "Is anyone here?"_

_A bright light shined and I turned around. There they were, just standing there. Their eyes staring into my soul. The guilt washed over me, a cold rush from my head to my feet. Their eyes, the colors each giving me a different feeling of insecurity. I stared, trying to remember them as they were._

_Blue, as clear as the bluest crystal waters._

_Gray, like a thundercloud ready to spill it's woes._

_Green, as dark as the most beautiful pine. As green as my mother's._

_I reached out to them, but they pulled away._

"_Why didn't you save us Kai?" They asked in monotone._

_I tried to tell them, but no sound came out of my mouth._

_They came closer to me, closer and closer, until they were right on top of me. I tried to back away, but my feet would not move._

"_Why? Why? WHY?"_

_The question got louder and louder until it turned into a shrill scream. The scream repeated over and over. I sat on the ground and covered my ears with my hands, trying to tune them out._

I shot up in my bed, cold sweat dripping down my head and chest. It was the fifth time I've had that dream tonight.

It had been almost two days since I found out about 2334. The days have honestly been a great big blur to me. I've spent the entire time I should have been training avoiding them, trying not to think about what I had done.

I rubbed my eyes and looked over at the clock. It was only two in the morning. I should try to sleep, but I don't want to.

I couldn't.

The dreams come to me as easily as sleep and I cannot bear them again, never again. I kept rubbing my eyes, trying to wake up from this nightmare. I keep thinking that if I try hard enough, I will wake back up in my warm bed on the Bounty, the soft sounds of my brothers' breathing lulling me back to sleep. But I know that won't happen. It's too late for me to fix this, to change this, now.

I needed to get out.

I stood up and grabbed my shirt off the floor. I pulled it and my sword on as I quietly snuck out the door. I immediately began to climb up the wall, to the one place I felt secure, sitting next to the high window that gave me the perfect view of the full moon. I looked up at the stars that bordered it and tried hard not to cry. Cole would always take Aryan up to the roof to look at the stars. Sometimes, he would even invite us to go up with him. I remember the night Lloyd saw his first shooting star, how excited he was, how he made us all make a wish. It was the first wish I ever made.

The first wish that never came true.

I tried hard to keep my tired eyes open, but they closed according to their own free will, launching me back into my nightmare.

_They were there, same as they always were. Just as I was about to try to reach them again. I heard the sound of small, quick footsteps._

_He appeared out of the darkness and I immediately dropped to my knees. He walked over to me, his green eyes searching my tear-encrusted face._

_Emerald green, bright and young. _

_They should have had more time to see._

_He crouched down next to me and looked me in the eyes, full hazel-to-green contact. A small tear slipped down his face._

"_I'm so sorry Kai. I just couldn't hold on any longer."_

_I reached out and grabbed his small body, hugging it to my chest. I swallowed my sobs._

"_You were so brave, I'm the one who should be apologizing."_

_We sat there for a minute, letting our tears soak the other's clothing. Then, he stood up._

"_I have to go now Kai."_

_I swallowed hard._

"_I know."_

_He smiled at me as he walked over to the others and took Nya's hand. She smiled at him and they slowly walked off into the darkness, Cole and Jay on their heels. I waved to them and just before Jay disappeared, he turned around and waved back. I smiled, they would be in a better place now._

_I know it._

I woke up just in time to look out the window and see a young boy in front of the store across the street, slowly painting a large 2334 across a poster of Lloyd.


	15. Chapter 15

The dark circles under my eyes revealed much, but no one was around to see it. I stayed in my room for the next few days. They came everyday to check on me, I never even opened the door to them, only turned them away. I couldn't face them, any of them. Cole even tried to coax me out, but I wouldn't.

The dream came again and again, only this time, two new pairs of eyes stared out of me from the darkness. A pair of blue ones that chilled me to the bone and a pair that were the same color of melted dark chocolate. They were both sad and they told me the same thing. They held on for as long as they could, but he broke them.

He broke them all.

Cole. The Ninja of Earth. Our leader. The most arrogant person I know, besides his smart-ass little sister. He never let us give up, even when all hope seemed to be lost. Maybe...maybe that's why I looked up to him. He was stronger than I had ever hoped to be, stronger than I ever will be.

Jay. The Ninja of Lightning. The kid we would never get to shut up for more than a minute. Maybe that's why it's been so quiet. I always envied him for his optimism, his ability to makes jokes, even a rough situation. He was easy-going and laid back, I could never be that, I was too serious. I wish I had laughed more with him, had enjoyed life. I can't imagine anyone else I would want dating my sister.

Zane. The Ninja of Ice. His sixth sense made him odd, but it was a good kind of odd. I always relied on him to keep me calm in a tough situation, he helped me control my fire. He didn't really have a sense of humor, but that's what made him unique. We put him down in the beginning, I wish we hadn't. I wish we had been less judgmental. I wish we had been supportive.

Aryan. The Ninja of Energy. Cole's smart-ass little sister. Her quick wit kept us alive in more than one situation, but it almost got us killed just as many times. But she acted out of anger, almost more than I did. Sometimes, she's more like a sister to me than Nya. Her power was extraordinary, but she hated to show it. She was humble, I wish I was.

Nya. Samurai X. My little sister. Ever since our dad died, I watched over her. As she got older, I never noticed that she was very capable of taking care of herself. I guess I still saw her as a little girl. I wish I had more time with her, I wish I could have seen how strong she became. Jay is one lucky kid.

Lloyd. The chosen one. The Green Ninja. He was the bravest of us all. He took on the burden at only eleven. He fought to the end, something I plan on doing myself. If not, his sacrifice will be for nothing. We all loved him, he was so kind, though he was raised by our arch-enemy. He will be avenged.

They will all be.

I laid my head gently on the table and closed my eyes. I was beat. I was ready to give in.

No. That's just what he wants me to do. I will NOT give him the satisfaction.

I pulled my head up and was surprised to find that instead of sitting at the table in my room, I was in a bright, white room that seemed to go on for ages. I stood up from the chair I was sitting in and began to walk around. What is this place?

Just as I was about to call out, a short fellow dressed in a white-collared shirt came out of nowhere, running toward me with his clipboard in hand.

"Ah! I was beginning to wonder when you would get here!"

He walked up to me and I saw that he only came up to my thigh. He reached out, grabbed my pant leg, and began to pull me along.

"There's much to do and we only have a short amount of time."

I was so confused. How the hell did I get here? What was this place? And who the hell was this?

I stopped very abruptly in my tracks, causing the little guy to fall on his back.

"Well, all this stuff we have to do can wait. Who are you, what is this place and why am I here?"

The little guy looked up at me and began to laugh.

"Of course. How rude of me! I am Custos, Guardian of the TSS's."

TSS's? What the hell were those?

As if he read my mind, Custos immediately spoke up.

"TSS stands for "Too Soon Souls", and this is Portum, the place all souls end up."

A pencil appeared out of thin air and he grabbed it and quickly began to scribble something down on his clipboard. Then he looked up and pointed his pencil at me.

'And you, my dear boy, are here to bargain with my master, Anima, for the souls of your friends."

I looked down at him in shock. My friends? I could still save them?

I had another chance?

I looked back at Custos and noticed he was several feet ahead of me, I ran to catch up with him.

"So wait, if I can make a good bargain with your master, he'll give me the souls of my friends back? Why?"

Without looking up, Custos replied to me.

"Because as I said before, your friends are TSS's. The closest living relative of any TSS has a chance to get their loved ones back. You were the first name that came up for all six."

He stopped abruptly and I noticed we had arrived at a set of pearly white gates. Custos turned to look at me.

"Name?"

I looked at him funny.

"Don't you already know it?"

"Name?" He repeated louder this time. I sighed.

"Kai."

He looked up at me over his pair of half-moon glasses.

"Your FULL name."

I looked at him in shock.

"No way man! I NEVER tell anyone my real name."

He kept looking at me skeptically.

"Do you want your friends back?"

"Yeah."

"Then give me your full name." He said through clenched teeth.

I sighed and scratched my head.

"My full name is Kaito Lee Ignis."

I grimaced. Man, I really hated that name. Custos jotted something down on the clipboard and looked back up at me.

"Now, I need the full names of your friends."

I didn't even hesitate, I knew that almost all of them went by their nicknames, they thought I didn't know. But then again, I had a pretty embarrassing name too.

"I'm here to save Colston Stewart Brookestone, Jacob Edward Walker, Zanen Thomas Julian, Aryanetta Rachel Brookestone, Nyata Lianne Ignis and Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon."

I smiled in spite of myself for remembering all those names. They would all be shocked if they were here right now. I started imagining their faces and I began to laugh out loud. Custos looked up at me strangely.

"This is no laughing matter."

Then, he yanked me over and waved his hand over the lock on the gates. There was a small click and the gates swung open. Light spilled out from the entrance.

"I hope your ready to meet the Mistress of All Souls."


	16. Chapter 16

_Drop a stone into the water_

_In a moment it's gone_

_But there are a hundred ripples_

_Circling on and on and on_

_-Author Unknown_

The gates swung open with a loud creek. I gulped as I took a small step into the bright light that emitted from the room. I put my hand up over my face to shield my eyes and walked farther into the room. As I tried to find my was around I heard a loud, commanding voice come out of the light.

"STOP!"

I stopped in my tracks as the light began to dim until the only light that lit up the room was comimg from the large throne in the middle of the room. I looked up to notice a beautiful woman, who was much larger than life.

"State your name and purpose stranger."

I gulped as I stepped forward and got down on my knees.

"My name is Kai, and don't ask me for my full name, because that's all you need to know. I'm here to save the souls of my friends."

She smiled at me and stepped off the throne, as she began he desent down the stairs, she began to shrink down to a normal size until she was a few inches shorter than me. There was a flash of bright light and I covered my eyes. When I opened them again, I was surprised to find that instead of a bright woman with glowing eyes, there was a very pretty girl with hazel eyes, freakles and shockingly red hair. She held her hand out to me.

"Hi! My name is Anima, but you can call me by the name my parents gave me, Kasey."

I looked at her confused and shook her hand, then she pulled away and turned around and I called towards her back.

"The name your parents gave you? You mean, you haven't always been Anima, The Mistress of All Souls?"

She turned around suddenly, he light turning from a pale yellow to a bright red. She pulled her hand up and smacked me hard across the face. The force was enough to make me step back. I held my hand to my throbbing face.

"What the hell was that for?"

He eyes blazed with a crystal fire, much like mine, but softer. More feminine. I'm not going to lie, it was sort of hot.

"I NEVER CHOSE THIS! DO YOU THINK I JUST WOKE UP ONE DAY, THIS HORRIBLE MONSTER!"

Her voice pirced through the darkness like a knife, but I didn't back down. She gave me the hardest stare ever, I think she might have beaten Cole. Without a word, she turned around and began to walk away, silently telling me that we were done. No, it couldn't be over. I had to save them.

"Wait!"

She turned back around, her eyes and body still aflame with an artificial fire. My eyes met her's.

"Please. Saving them means everything to me. Just give me a chance!"

She stared at me for the longest moment, then she let out a long sigh. The light around dimmed back down to it's normal color. She walked up to me, she was shorter, but she looked me straight in the eyes. A small, blue sphere rose up out of the middle of the room. She walked over and laid her hand on the sphere, and it grew to the size of a large TV.

Kasey turned to look at me.

"Are these the souls you desire to take out of my possesion?"

Pictures of Cole, Jay, Nya, Lloyd, Zane, and Aryan popped up on the screen. I swallowed the large lump that had formed in my throat and nodded. Kasey shook a long red hair out of her face.

"Then prove it."

She walked over and next to me.

"Your friend, the brunette, she posseses mental powers, correct?"

I nodded slowly, still staring at their faces.

"Wonderful, then you won't be too uncomfertable by this."

She leaned into my body and whispered into my ear.

"Close your eyes. And be ready."

She pulled away from me and took my hand, her fingers interlocking with mine. I closed my eyes. When I reopened them, we were standing in a white room. I dropped Kasey's hand.

"Where the hell are we?"

Kasey smiled.

"You already know the answer to that."

I took a step forward and spun around.

"Wow. I kinda expected my mind to be a little more, I don't know, interesting."

"That," Kasey said as she walked toward me, "is because you haven't allowed me fully into your mind."

I turned back to her.

"I haven't allowed you? You mean, I have a choice?"

Her eyebrows raised.

"Of course. I thought you said your friend possesd this ability as well?"

I walked around again.

"She does, it's just that Aryan is more of a take-while-I-can then ask-and-waste-time kind of girl."

"Ah, well that would not be the moment I showed about her then."

I looked at her.

"Moment?"

"To prove that you deserve to have your friends back, we will journey to one moment from your past, your favorite about each."

She came over and took my hand again.

"You ready?"

I squeezed her hand.

"Ready."

The white began to fade, whisking us away to another time. Another place. Another moment.

I just hope I pick the right one.

**Hey everyone! So sorry about the late update. School really stinks! Anyway, for my next chapter, I need moments from Kai's past about the others. I need one memory for Jay, Cole, Nya, Zane, Lloyd and Aryan that can be from any point in time. They can be based on the show or purly from your own imagination. Just send me your ideas and I pick one for each character. Thanks everyone and don't forget to review!  
**

**-Legion**


	17. Chapter 17

The outline of a room began to form before our eyes, as if an invisible hand was sketching it out. Before I could blink twice, the entire room was laid out in front of me. I glanced around, then I looked over at Kasey.

"There's no one here."

She smiled at me.

"Do you even know where 'here' is?"

I dropped her hand and walked over to the other side of the room. I bent down and picked up the video game controller. Just then, I heard voices in the hall, and they were coming our way! I dropped the controller and ran over to Kasey. I grabbed her hand and tried to pull her towards the closet, but she just looked at me and laughed.

"You've obviously never done this before."

I stopped tugging on her arm.

"When it came to problems of the mind, Aryan and Zane were the only two that could handle it."

"Go figure."

I gave her a sarcastic look, just as the door flung open and Jay walked into the room. I froze. Kasey laughed again.

"This is a memory. Something that has already come to pass, they can't see or hear us."

I felt the muscles in my shoulders relax just as Zane, Lloyd, Nya, and Aryan walked into the room. Jay was powering up the console.

"So, what game do you guys wanna play?"

Aryan and Nya gave him a skeptical look.

"What are you asking us for? You know we just come in here to give you "moral support in the battle for your lives." Aryan said with a bow.

Jay rolled his eyes as he popped in Call of Duty.

"Shut up, Aryan."

Nya giggled and wrapped her arms around him.

"Lighten up Jay! She was just being...Aryan."

She kissed him on the side of his temple and he smiled just as I walked into the room and blocked my eyes.

"Aw, come on Jay! That's my sister!"

Jay looked up at Kai.

"Okay, how come your always so weird and awkward about us? Cole's never like that with Aryan and Zane."

"No, I am," Cole said as he walked into the room, "I just choose to ignore it."

Aryan smiled and walked over to Cole.

"And that's why your the best brother in the world!"

She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, then turned around and went back and sat, next to Zane, who immediately took her hand. Cole rolled his eyes.

As I was watching this memory play out, I felt a cold hand take mine and squeeze it gently. I looked over into Kasey's big, hazel eyes. She looked at me for a second, then turned back to the memory.

"I figured we should start with him, he has been waiting the longest."

I followed her eyes over to where Cole was standing. I swallowed hard and remembered the cold prison cell, the black number etched next to his name. I turned my attention back to the memory.

All of the boys were intently focused on the screen, bumping against each other to pull the others off track. The girls were sitting behind them, slowly shaking their heads, but the smiles on their faces were clearly visible. The silence was purely for concentration reasons, but looking over at Jay, I knew it wouldn't last long.

"So, Nya," Jay called over his shoulder, shattering the silence. The four out of the five smaller screens on the TV flashed red and all of the others looked over at him in annoyance.

"Shut up Jay!" Kai shouted, causing more screens to flash red.

"Can you two knock it off!" Lloyd shouted.

"Please quiet down!" Zane said, "I'm trying to concentrate!"

Cole hadn't said anything which was weird for him. He gently set his controller down next to him, stood up and just walked out of the room. I was confused. Cole never walked away from a fight. Why would he leave now?

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Cole re-entering the room, something was handing off his right arm. He walked over to Jay and pulled off one of the strips on his arm and smacked it onto him mouth. When Jay reached up to pull it off, Cole grabbed both of his hands and in a matter of minutes, taped his hands to the controller.

Without a word, he walked past the gaping mouths of his friends, sat down, picked up his controller and continued playing.

I burst out laughing, I remembered this! One of the funniest things I had ever experienced in my life! The rest of the room joined into my giggles, but only Kasey could hear me. She was trying to look serious, but eventually, her laugh joined all of ours.

"You remember this, correct?" Kasey asked through her laughs.

"Of course! It was the first time Cole actually acted like a human being! He acted like out friend, not our leader! It showed us that we could truly trust him, and that he would always be there."

Every noise in the room died down. I looked over at Kasey, and she had the biggest smile on her face. All of the sudden, a horrible pain shot up my right arm, I screamed and fell to my knees. The pain was horrible, but when it died down, I looked over at my hand. There was a small, red mark about the size of a penny, right below my thumb. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that it was in the exact shape of Cole's symbol, but this was was pulsing a dim, yellow light. I looked up at Kasey, who offered me her hand. I gladly accepted, the same big smile was on her face.

"Congratulations Kaito. You have showed me a memory, which proves that Colsten deserves the right to remain on the Earth."

I looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you are now in possession of the soul of Colston Stewart Brookestone."

I swallowed and I looked back down at the pulsing symbol on my hand as the room faded into darkness.

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the late update, these last few weeks have been REALLY busy! So anyway I just wanted to thank Gamerine for all the great ideas for memories! As well as everyone else, you all are soooooo great! Thank you! Don't forget to R & R!**

**-Legion**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I have just been really caught up with school and sports. I've also been working on two new fanfics, so yeah... Anyway, I'll stop talking so you can start reading. I'll have other updates on my other stories within the week!**

When we arrived at the next memory, I didn't waste any time.

"What do you mean in "possession of his soul?"Kasey said nothing, she didn't even look at me. I reached out and grabbed her arm. "Kasey!"

_What do you think she means? Possession has only ONE meaning, dumbass! Geez, now I know why they let ME lead._

I froze. I slowly let go of Kasey's arm and scanned the room. There was nothing special about it, it was just an ordinary room, like in a hotel. I didn't know where it was or whose memory it was, but there was one thing for certain,

Kasey and I were alone.

"Did you hear that?" I asked Kasey, trying to keep the tremble in my voice under control. She turned ans smiled, letting her eyes do the talking.

"Hear what?"

_It's only me and you in here, big guy. Your little gal pal can't hear me. I can only drive YOU crazy. You and you alone._

I recognized the voice, it was commanding and rough as rocks.

_**Cole?**_

_Good guess. And believe me, I'm not to fond of our "little arrangement" either._

_**But...But? How is this possible? I mean, you're IN MY HEAD. Oh gosh, now I can't think any bad things about you when your ordering me around!**_

_Calm down Hothead. You're in possession of my soul, remember? My soul is what makes me who I am, so naturally, the part of me that guides you has allowed itself to attach to your innermost thoughts._

_And what bad things are we talking about here?!_

_**So...you're like my conscience?**_

_I know! Weird, right? Seems like a better job for Zane or Aryan. You know I'm not good with matters of the mind._

_**Shh! Can it, Cole! The memory is starting!**_

Before I had the chance to compose myself, the large, double doors in the corner burst open, and a sobbing girl in a tattered dress ran in. He make-up was running, and her face was coated with dirt and dry blood, but I'd recognize that mop of brown hair anywhere.

"She held on the longest." I glanced over at Kasey, her hazel eyes staring straight into her soul. "But even though she was the last, she never put herself first. She talked about you and the others constantly, begging that I send the others back to their mortal forms and take her as payment." I glanced over, watching her try to compose herself, watching her fail miserably. Then, I noticed something.

"Kasey, I've never been here before. I know that for a fact. This isn't my memory." Kasey smiled and squeezed my hand gently.

"I know, but it's one you need to see."

I glanced over at what was left of the dress she was wearing and I took note of the color. It was a light gray, as most of her things normally were, but there was something...off about this one. It was a nice dress, but I've never seen it before, and she would defiantly have worn it again if she had it.

"Did she steal that dress?" Kasey looked at me in shock.

"You really don't remember any of this, do you?" I shook my head as a response. Kasey eyes were searing holes in my flesh. "Why do you think she's bleeding?"

I walked over to where she was sitting, sobbing her eyes out. I checked out the damage on her face. Her lip was bleeding, and so was her nose, but it didn't look too bad. It was a lot better than the kind of stuff she usually got.

"Why is she crying?" I asked Kasey. "She looks fine." Within a second, Kasey was standing next to me. She gripped my shoulder and pointed back down at her.

"Look again."

I gave Kasey a weird look before I bent down, so that my nose was nearly touching the tip of hers. I inspected her face again, finding nothing that I didn't notice before. I shrugged and began to stand up, but when I was nearly above her, I noticed something unusual. The area under the base of her nose was oddly discolored. I bent down and checked it out again. It was defiantly a nice bruise, but there was something odd about it. On her cheek, near her nose, there was a small, roundish-shaped bruise that was darker than the rest of the main bruise. I glanced around her face, there were three more, two on either side of her nose, and one on her other cheek, the same spot as the others. They were in a straight line, that CAN'T be a coincidence. The pattern would only be in a straight line if...

I stood up, slowly. "She was punched," Kasey raised her eyebrows, I gestured to her face. "The darker parts of her bruises, they match up with the marks knuckles would make because they protrude from the rest of the bone structure."

Kasey said nothing, she only stared. I started to get a little freaked out.

"Who hit her, Kasey?"

_Yeah! Who hit my sister!_

_**Shut up, Cole!**_

Kasey just kept staring.

"JUST TELL ME!" I didn't mean to shout. Kasey took a step back, but still said nothing. I turned back to Aryan and thought about what Kasey had said about me "not remembering." Then, it all just clicked. I took a knee in front of Aryan and looked her in the eyes, even though she couldn't look back. With a shaking hand, I placed my fist up against her face.

The knuckles marks matched perfectly.

I stood up shakily and looked back at Kasey. She gave me a small, encouraging smile. I stood there, staring at the sobbing girl. I felt a soft pair of lips brush against my ear.

"All she wanted was someone to go with her to the party," Kasey whispered in my ear, "you offered to go because the others' were busy. You got drunk, Kai. Scary drunk. When Aryan came up and asked you to stop, you hit her, hard enough to draw blood."

I closed my eyes. "Why...why didn't she tell Cole? Or Zane?"

Kasey took a few steps back and smiled. "I don't know Kai, why don't you tell me." She gestured to Aryan's tear-soaked face. "Why is this event significant?"

I looked over at her, as if I needed to think, but I already knew what I was going to say. "Because Aryan was our little trooper. She would never cry, or shows any type of emotion that might make her seem weak." I smiled slightly. "When we were drowning in...whatever crap we always got caught up in, she was our dry land. What this does...what this proves, is that we, that I, mean a lot more to her then her dignity. We mean EVERYTHING. She cried because hitting her was like saying she wasn't family. Families stick up for one another, which is why she didn't tell Cole or Zane. She didn't want me to get hurt."

I closed my eyes as the familiar sensation that my arm was about to explode overwhelmed my senses. A new voice filled the void of my head.

**Okay, why do I feel like I've been run over by a monster truck and why am I inside Kai's head? And why the hell is Cole here?**

_Hey? How's you know?_

**The feel. The smell. I've been in here tons of times, and in your's twice as many.**

_Well that's not creepy at all. What do you think, Kai?_

_**Shut up, guys.**_

I let a small smile creep onto my face as the fancy room faded into black.

**Hey everyone! Sorry it took me sooooooo long to update, I've just been sooooooo busy! Anyway, so I'm starting to work on my fan art on Deviantart and I need your help to decide what piece to start working on from this fanfic.**

**Will it be..?**

**1- Kai: The scene where he breaks all the mirrors in the first challenge.**

**2- Zane: The City of Confusion-Part One; sitting on Aryan's grave.**

**3- Cole: The City of Confusion- Part One; all decked out in his prison uniform.**

**4- Jay: The City of Confusion- Part One; holding flowers in his overalls.**

**5- Aryan: The City of Confusion- Part Two; in her rebellion uniform.**

**6- Zane: The City of Confusion- Part Two; sitting at his computer**

**7- Cole: The City of Confusion- Part Two; leaning on his gun**

**8- Jay and Nya: The City of Confusion- Part Two; Nya looking longingly as his back, him ignoring her**

**Lloyd: The City of Confusion- Part Two; looking evil**

**Just answer in the comments or shoot me a PM. Winning art will be announced next update. Art will be up by May.**

**Tootles everyone! Don't forget to R&R!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Okay, I've been gone forever and I am very sorry. Lots of stuff to accomplish this summer. Anyway, you have been waiting long enough!**

Aryan and Cole were surprisingly quiet as we entered the next memory. I didn't question it, happy that they were leaving my thoughts to myself (or at least Cole was, Aryan did whatever the hell she wanted and I couldn't stop her). When the white began to fade into different colors and shapes, I knew we had arrived.

"So, who do you guess is next?" Kasey asked me with a smirk on her face.

"Um, Lloyd?"

"Nope."

"Nya?"

"Not even close."

"Just tell me who it is!" The smile on Kasey's face grew wider as she took a step back.

"The soul you'll have to save, is yourself." I watched in horror as tentacles began to shoot our from her back, her eyes began to poke out of her head and everything that was once beautiful was replaced by a monstrous form. The memory faded to a void of black. I took a large step back, trying to hide the need to vomit.

"Oh, Kai," the creature said in a deep, raspy voice, " you were a fool to believe that Armageddon would really allow you to save your friends. Your hope blinded you from seeing what you needed to see. Now, you answer to me."

A long, greasy tentacle reached out and grabbed m, pulling me closer to it's horrid face. I reached for my sword, but it wasn't there. The creature let out a low laugh. "Looking for this?" It held up my sword, and before I could stop it, swallowed the thing whole. "You're next." It said with the same smirk Kasey had had on her face not moments before.

_It's weak spot._

_**What?**_

_You need to find it's weak spot._

_**Cole? How are...How are you still in here? It was all a lie, another challenge!**_

**Apparently, not us. We're really here, and we're here to help.**

_**Well, even if I could find it's weak spot, how would I fight it, Aryan?**_

**Use your fire.**

_**Don't you think I already tried that? There's no normal oxygen!**_

_And there's no earth either._

_**What does that have to do with anything?!**_

**KAI! LOOK OUT!**

I snapped back into reality just in time to avoid another tentacle, coming fast toward my face. I ducked, which also allowed my body to slide out from it's tight grasp.

** Kai, our souls make us who we are, which also includes the thing that attracts us to each element. You can use ours, well, mainly mine.**

_**Well, that's good enough for me!**_

I stood to face the creature, and I pulled my hand up in the air, like I had seen Aryan do many times before. "Okay, ENERGY BEAM!" I shouted and closed my eyes. I waited for the sound of the creature crying out in pain, but it never came. I opened my eyes and saw a very angry monster, charging full speed at me.

_You might wanna run._

I turned on my heel and began to run as fast as humanly possible.

_**It didn't work, Aryan!**_

**That's because you tried to use my energy! You may have the power to _use_ energy, but it always has to be your own!**

_**Well, how do I use my own?!**_

**I don't know!**

With that one sentence, I stopped running. I might as well give up, there was no hope for me anyway. I turned to face the charging monster, and accepted my fate.

There was no hope for me. I was a failure. Those mirrors were right.

The monster grew nearer and nearer. I closed my eyes, ignoring the screams of the others' in my head. And I sat down, and waited.

I felt a small net of peace fill in my as I felt the monster grab me. I was going to die. And I was okay with that. But just as quickly as the monster had grabbed me, I felt the sensation that I was falling. I opened my eyes just in time to catch myself from hitting my head. I did a quick flip and landed on my feet. I looked up at the monster and saw that in it's place, was a door, with writing on it. I walked closer to it and inspected the words that littered the doorway.

"Great, it's in Latin. Now what do I do?"

"Perhaps, I can be of assistance." I opened my eyes at the sound of Aryan's voice.

"You guys are still here?"

"In the flesh." I turned at that statement, trying to hide the laugh.

"Uh, Cole? I don't think you understand what that mea..." I was cut off by th sight of two figures standing behind me, both with their arms crossed over their chests and amused smiles playing on their lips. Cole smirked a little.

"Yeah, Hothead. I think I do know what it means." I couldn't hide my excitement as I ran over and hugged the two of them.

"You guys don't know how long I've been waiting to see a familiar face that actually recognizes me!" Both of them gave me a confused look. "I'll explain later! I'm just so happy to see..." Then, I remembered. "But, I guess we didn't have time to save the others then. I guess it's just us from now on."

"Not necessarily." Aryan said as she walked over to the door and began to inspect it. "While we were technically 'dead' we weren't actually 'DEAD'. Armageddon simply brainwashed us, so the parts that made us ourselves were. You simply retrieved ours. I think we can reverse the others the same way you got us, by re-living a memory. Ah, here we go."

I watched as Aryan read the door, the frown on her face getting deeper and deeper until I didn't think it could go anymore. Cole walked up next to her.

"Well, what does it say?" The look in her eyes said it all as she began to read.

"Congratulations, you have completed the third challenge, The Veil of Hope. By giving up all hope, then and only then were you able to defeat the creature. In the beginning of this challenge, you were taken to a pointless world,to help defeat your hope, but it refused to give out until the last second. Now, you will find that we have given you two of your "fallen" teammates. Figure out why. The door won't go anywhere."

We were all silent as Aryan stood up, trying to figure out what the message meant.

"Well, at least we know one reason why he chose us." Both Aryan and I looked over at Cole. "The monster swallowed the Sword of Fire, and I know we had the Scythe of Quakes and the Sais of Energy on us when we were captured." I gave him a look of knowing.

"They wanted the Elemental Weapons." I whispered.

"Not just that," replied Aryan, " they wanted Zane, Jay, Nya and Lloyd as well."


End file.
